Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 12 > Chapter 37 > Article 5 - Liability for Taxes; Returns

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Annuity issuer: means an insurer that has issued a contract to fund periodic payments under a structured settlement. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Assignee: means a person acquiring or proposing to acquire structured settlement payments from a structured settlement purchase company or transferee after, or concurrently with, the transfer of the structured settlement payment rights by the payee to the structured settlement purchase company or transferee. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• clerk: as used in this title , signifies the clerk of the court where the action is pending and, in the Supreme Court or the court of appeals, the clerk of the county mentioned in the title of the complaint or in another county to which the court may have changed the place of trial, unless otherwise specified. See South Carolina Code 15-1-60
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependents: include a payee's spouse and minor children and all other persons for whom the payee legally is obligated to provide support, including alimony. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Discounted present value: means the present value of future payments determined by discounting the payments to the present using the most recently published applicable federal rate for determining the present value of an annuity, as issued by the United States Internal Revenue Service. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Gross advance amount: means the sum payable to the payee or for the payee's account as consideration for a transfer of structured settlement payment rights before a reduction for transfer expenses or other deduction is made from the consideration. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Independent professional advice: means advice of an attorney, certified public accountant, actuary, or other licensed professional advisor. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• individual: means a human being. See South Carolina Code 12-2-20
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Interested parties: means , with respect to a structured settlement, the payee, a beneficiary irrevocably designated under the annuity contract to receive payments following the payee's death, the annuity issuer, the structured settlement obligor, and any other party to the structured settlement that has continuing rights or obligations to receive or make payments under the structured settlement. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Net advance amount: means the gross advance amount less the aggregate amount of the actual and estimated transfer expenses that must be disclosed pursuant to § 15-50-30(5). See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Payee: means an individual who is receiving tax-free payments under a structured settlement and who proposes to make a transfer of payment rights under the settlement. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Periodic payments: includes recurring payments and scheduled future lump-sum payments. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• person: includes any individual, trust, estate, partnership, receiver, association, company, limited liability company, corporation, or other entity or group; and
  
  (2) "individual" means a human being. See South Carolina Code 12-2-20
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• property: as used in this Title , includes both real and personal property. See South Carolina Code 15-1-50
• Prospective payee: means an individual who is receiving tax-free payments under a structured settlement pursuant to United States Code, title 26, § 130, and who has been personally and individually solicited by and has not yet proposed to transfer all or a portion of the structured settlement payment rights to a structured settlement purchase company. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Qualified assignment agreement: means an agreement providing for a qualified assignment within the meaning of Section 130 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, United States Code Title 26. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Real property: shall mean not only land, city, town and village lots but also all structures and other things therein contained or annexed or attached thereto which pass to the vendee by the conveyance of the land or lot;
  
  (2) "Personal property" shall mean all things, other than real estate, which have any pecuniary value, and moneys, credits, investments in bonds, stocks, joint-stock companies or otherwise;
  
  (3) "Moneys" or "money" shall mean gold, silver and other coin, bank bills and other bills or notes authorized to be circulated as money, whether in possession or on deposit subject to the draft of the depositor or person having the beneficial interest therein on demand;
  
  (4) "Credits" shall mean the remainder due, or to become due, to a person, after deducting from the amount of all legal debts, claims and demands in his favor the amount of all legal debts and demands against him, whether such demands be payable in money, labor or other valuable things, but, in ascertaining such remainder, no deduction shall be made for any (a) obligation to any mutual insurance company given for insurance, (b) subscription to the capital stock of any joint-stock company, (c) taxes assessed against the person, (d) subscription to any religious, scientific, literary or charitable purpose, (e) acknowledgment of a liability not founded on a legal and valuable consideration, (f) more of any joint liability with others than the person honestly believes he will be compelled to pay, (g) contingent liability or (h) acknowledgment of a debt or liability made for the purpose of diminishing the amount of credit to be returned for taxation. See South Carolina Code 12-37-10
• Secretary: means the Secretary of State. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Structured settlement: means an arrangement for periodic payment of damages for personal injuries or sickness established by settlement or judgment in resolution of a tort claim. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Structured settlement agreement: means the agreement, judgment, stipulation, or release embodying the terms of a structured settlement. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Structured settlement obligor: means , with respect to a structured settlement, the party that has the continuing obligation to make periodic payments to the payee under a structured settlement agreement or a qualified assignment agreement. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Structured settlement payment rights: means rights to receive periodic payments under a structured settlement, whether from the structured settlement obligor or the annuity issuer, if the:
  
  (a) payee is domiciled in, or the domicile or principal place of business of the structured settlement obligor or the annuity issuer is located in, this State; or
  
  (b) structured settlement agreement was approved by a court in this State; or
  
  (c) structured settlement agreement is governed expressly by the laws of this State. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Structured settlement purchase company: means a person who acts as a transferee in the State and who is registered with the Secretary pursuant to § 15-50-80 through § 15-50-150. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Structured settlement transfer proceeding: means a court proceeding initiated by the filing of an application by a structured settlement purchase company seeking court approval of a transfer in accordance with this chapter. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Terms of the structured settlement: include the terms of the structured settlement agreement, the annuity contract, a qualified assignment agreement, and an order or other approval of a court that approved a structured settlement agreement. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Transfer: means the sale, assignment, pledge, hypothecation, or other alienation or encumbrance of structured settlement payment rights made by a payee for consideration; except that the term "transfer" does not include the creation or perfection of a security interest in structured settlement payment rights under a blanket security agreement entered into with an insured depository institution, in the absence of an action to redirect the structured settlement payments to the insured depository institution, or an agent or successor in interest of it, or otherwise to enforce the blanket security interest against the structured settlement payment rights. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Transfer agreement: means the agreement providing for a transfer of structured settlement payment rights. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Transfer expenses: means all expenses of a transfer that are required under the transfer agreement to be paid by the payee or deducted from the gross advance amount including, without limitation, court filing fees, attorneys' fees, escrow fees, lien recordation fees, judgment and lien search fees, finder's fees, commissions, and other payments to a broker or other intermediary. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Transferee: means a party acquiring or proposing to acquire structured settlement payment rights through a transfer. See South Carolina Code 15-50-20
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.